The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 was introduced to protect the interests of property owners involved or affected by building work. The Act is based on the old ‘London Building Acts’, which proved so effective that they were extended in an adopted form to the rest of England and Wales. The purpose of the Act is threefold.
Firstly, it protects property owners from a situation where work carried out by a neighbour could affect their property.
Secondly, it allows people to carry out building work without being hindered by unreasonable neighbours.
Thirdly and most importantly, the Act provides a mechanism to avoid conflict in the process by requiring the appointed surveyors to negotiate the conditions of an Award professionally and reasonably.
The Act may require a formal notice to be served on the owner of an adjoining property before undertaking building work and reach a formal agreement (Award) before building work starts.
Whatever the situation, we are able to undertake all aspects of Party Wall appointments efficiently and effectively to ensure that fees are kept to a commensurate level.
We are an RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) regulated firm.